Oregon Sports Betting Revenue Update

Oregon Sports Betting Handle

Oregon had its most successful month yet when it came to the numbers for October. Oregon legalized sports betting back in August of 2019. Oregon runs the entire operation of sports betting through the Oregon Lottery and has a single app named Scoreboard for its online sports wagering.

The entirety of Oregon’s numbers-breakdown can be found every month on its website, as transparency is one of the promises made in exchange for the monopoly that the Lottery is running.

First off, the number of bets placed reached 903,187, up from 839,162 placed in September. With it being college football and NFL season, it would make sense that the number of bets is increasing. Of course, sports betting is also relatively new, and October also saw over 3,000 more new registrations for Scoreboard, which, of course, adds to the total bets.

The most important number to look at when it comes to sports betting is the handle, as this lets you know how many bets are being placed, and October saw $29.5 million of sports wagers come through. This was not only a record-breaking month but an increase of $3.3 million from September. This is massive news for Oregon as they look to create a solid revenue stream, in sports betting, for the state.

Of course, the margin is always important, and October had a very solid 9.34% margin, which impressively almost doubled the margin in September. Now, this is why you are seeing so many headlines speaking to the drastic increase in revenue as Oregon went from $1.5 million in September to $2.8 million in October.

While this is great, there is no reason to believe that this kind of margin percentage will keep up. The average year to date margin from September of 2020 was 7.1%, and that is probably around where the margin will stay for Oregon long term. The more important number to look at is the handle. The revenue will fluctuate as some months will be better for bettors, and some will be better for the Lottery. That is just the nature of gambling. The 9.34% was outstanding and, combined with the record-breaking handle, led to a drastic revenue increase.

Sports

When taking a look at where the money was being placed for October, you need to look no further than football and then the NBA/MLB playoffs. Football accounted for $12.2 million of the $29.5 million handle, while basketball and baseball both came in at around $4 and a half million. It will be fascinating to see the numbers for November when football becomes really the only star of the show.

One place that Oregon may be able to look for more income is soccer, where $3.5 million was placed during October. Oregon is one of the stronger soccer-bases in America, and the State loves its MLS team, the Timbers. However, most of the wagers are most likely being placed on European soccer, specifically Champions League and English Premier League soccer. With November being a busy month for both of these leagues and international soccer, I would be looking at this category very closely when November’s numbers are announced.